Gig Harbor

Sensormatic Electronics Corp. of Deerfield Beach has added another venture to its stable of products, announcing Tuesday the acquisition of a West Coast distributor of point-of-sale scanning systems. The sale was consummated by the payment of an undisclosed amount of cash. The acquired company, Point of Sale Data Products Inc. in Gig Harbor, Wash., is expected to add more than $10 million to Sensormatic`s 1988 revenue. It has grown from $2 million in revenue in 1984 to more than $7 million in 1987.

Pop a copy of Nursery Tap: Hip to Toe into your DVD player, and all you see are feet. Dancing feet. They tap, hip-hop and pirouette to the rhythm of centuries-old nursery rhymes. The entire children's production, which won a Peabody Award this week, is shot with views of performers from the hips down. The idea, says creator Juleen Murray Shaw of Gig Harbor, Wash., is to keep young viewers focused on a performer's words and movements instead of on her facial expressions. Viewers can imagine themselves as the dancers.

Taifour Diane and Robert Lipp each had a goal and an assist in overtime Saturday night and the Colorado Foxes defeated the Los Angeles Salsa 3-1 in the American Professional Soccer League's championship game in Fullerton, Calif. Diane scored with 10 seconds remaining in the first overtime period on an assist from Lipp, and Lipp added an insurance goal five minutes into the second overtime on an assist from Diane as the Foxes won their second straight APSL title. The game was tied 1-1 after the regulation 90-minute match.

In response to reporter Larry Barszewski's article, "The Mandate: Sports Equality; School needs to take quick actions to avoid sanctions," Aug. 29: It should be noted that the National High School Athletic Coaches Association has identified factors which facilitate success toward the goals of Title IX. First, school district leadership priority needs to be increased funding for staffing of both boys' and girls' sports with qualified, motivated, committed...

Gig Harbor, Wash., tight end Austin Seferian-Jenkins, who Florida was presumed to be the leader for, has announced his eight finalists. The surprise is the 6-foot-7, 250-pounder hasn't been offered yet by his self-proclaimed leader. Florida, Texas, Washington, USC, UCLA, Cal, Alabama and LSU all remain in the hunt for Seferian-Jenkins' services, but it is the Longhorns who currently stand out above the rest. "Texas would be at the top even though they haven't offered," Seferian-Jenkins told Rivals.

Dear Abby: Since you didn't give marching orders to "In Shock and Heartbroken," whose surgeon-husband suddenly cleaned out the house and had his lawyer offer her $20,000 in exchange for custody of their children, may I offer some advice? "In Shock," you deserve more than that jerk showed you. What kind of example is he setting for his children? More important, what kind of example will YOU set for them? I urge you to find the most aggressive, pit-bull lawyer in your area and tell him how you were cheated out of your marriage, belongings, means of support and children.

The stalemate over a captured U.S. military helicopter pilot in North Korea took a new twist on Wednesday when the Pyongyang government said the pilot had admitted making an "illegal intrusion" into the country. "I admit that this criminal action is inexcusable and unpardonable," pilot Bobby Hall was quoted as saying in a statement released by North Korea's official news agency. "However, at home my parents, wife and kids are anxiously waiting for my return to them." According to North Korea, Hall admitted he was on a reconnaissance mission when his helicopter "deviated from the route" and crossed into North Korean airspace.

Lisa Weidenbach has won the 1985 Boston Marathon, the 1988 and 1989 Chicago marathons and the 1993 Twin Cities Marathon. Still, it's the marathons she didn't win for which she is best known. "My claim to fame is the fact that I've been the alternate for the Olympic team three times [1984, 1988, 1992)," Weidenbach said. "I was fourth at the trials, three go to the Olympics and the fourth one sits home and pouts. Back it up one more Olympiad and in 1980 I qualified for the Olympics as a swimmer.

Of all the ink-stained wretches who serve society in obscurity, scientific illustrators may be the most important and least appreciated. The Smithsonian Institution now puts them in the spotlight with paired exhibitions at the S. Dillon Ripley Center and the National Museum of Natural History. Many visitors are surprised to discover that most illustrations of scientific specimens are still done by hand, in pencil, ink or paint on paper. This is because cameras and computers cannot reconstruct a specimen shattered in shipping, make a withered rose bloom again, or tease out and highlight particular parts of a bird's kidney.

Dear Abby: We were returning from the Far East and ran into a customs officer who kept badgering me regarding a diamond pendant I was wearing, insisting that it be declared a purchase. Finally, I remembered that I had worn it for my driver's license picture, so I whipped that out. After inspecting the photograph, with a grudging smirk he let me continue on. I realize this is a problem because many are not honest in their declarations, but it really was an upsetting experience. - Badgered in Minn.